3/3/13

So many of my dear friends are working in the food blogging world.
And I love that I get the chance to not only see their dreams of getting published come true, but also to interview them and see their finished product come to life.
Jenny of the famous family cooking oriented food blog Picky Palate recently published her first cookbook.I couldn't be happier for her. How she managed to create this cookbook while pregnant is beyond me.
Jenny is a self-taught home cook and an on the go mom to 3 boys and wife to her high school sweetie. Creating original recipes and capturing food photography is Jenny's passion, and she loves sharing her journey with her readers. Picky Palate has been featured on sites such as Saveur.com, BettyCrocker.com, Finecooking.com and Shine by Yahoo. Jenny was born and raised in AZ but now lives in Southern California with her family.
What is Picky Palate blog all about?
It's a popular food blog that is geared toward parents who need meals in a flash while entertaining those children (adults too!) who have, well, picky palates!
What is The Picky Palate Cookbook about?
All-time favorites from the blog along with nearly 100 exclusive new dishes accompanied by enticing full-color photographs.
About 128 total recipes, both favorites from the blog and brand-new from Jenny's kitchen.
Recipes for your own picky palate, finicky families, and some of the best solutions for dull family meals.

Jenny was also really kind enough to giveaway 3 cookbooks!
See the end of the interview on how to enter.

Jenny, first off congrats on the cookbook. I loved how its laid out with a binder-like
book, easy to turn pages, and the contents are so well laid out with (just like
the book says ‘something for everyone’) breakfast, party food ideas, home is
where the chicken dinner is, gone fishin, you’ll never miss the beef, sweet
tooth, and bake sale ideas! Perfect way to lay out a cookbook when you have
fussy eaters in the house. But what I loved most was the opening line of introduction:
“Had no idea I’d become such a foodie!” Amazing what you learn, grow to love, and want to share once
you start a food blog. And for you, that’s kind of where you started all this? Was a food blog?

I wanted a place to create recipes
after I stopped doing cooking competitions.
Seemed like a perfect transition for me.

What made you do a food blog way back in 2007?

My boys were toddlers, very picky
eaters and I LOVED creating recipes since I was doing cooking
competitions. I had no idea what I was
doing with the blog, but I didn’t care either, lol!

And what made you start doing the cooking contests?

In 2001 my husband and I moved into
our first home in AZ and I realized I didn’t know how to cook anything! I made it a goal to learn to cook over a year
or so and realized in the process that I absolutely loved it. I started creating my own recipes and decided
to enter the Pillsbury Bake-Off in 2004.
When I got accepted I continued to enter cooking competitions for about
4 years. Had so much fun.

Do you still do the cooking contests?

I do not still compete, just enjoy
the memories.

Which cooking contests did you win?

My biggest win was winner in my
category of the Southern Living Cook-Off for my Coconut Macadamia Shrimp with
Warm Tropical Salsa, $10,000.

You have a couple fussy eaters in your family is that right? Now that they’ve grown are they still fussy
eaters?

Yes, the research for my book was
from my family and my boys were very picky eaters as toddlers. As they’ve gotten older they are better, but
certainly not perfect, lol! It’s a
process.

Did you find there was a ‘cookbook niche’ for finicky
families? I would imagine so.

Yes, I feel like so many families
struggle with finicky eaters.

I love, and I know a lot of parents will love the part in
your cookbook: “Ten great tips for feeding picky eaters”. With tips like games at meal time that
include “let’s see who can take more bites or how many different colors of the
rainbow can we eat off our plate”.
Excellent idea.

I honestly didn’t have too many that
were too tricky to develop. I had to
make my Homemade Yellow Butter Cake with Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting at
least a dozen times to make sure I got it just right.

Now looking back (they say hindsight is 20/20) are there any
chapters you wish you included in the cookbook but didn’t?

Nope J

The nights you don’t feel like cooking, what is your
favorite quick and easy meal?

Spaghetti! ….or Trader Joe’s Pizza
Dough to make a quick pizza.

What made you become such a foodie? Did you grow up in a foodie family? Were parents good cooks?

My Grandmother was such a great
cook. She is French and was a great
example to me. I was always cooking and
baking with her.

When we moved to Southern California
4 years ago, one of my stipulations was that we get season passes so we can go
all the time. Since we went to Disney
ALL the time, I figured out all of the fun places to eat and get snacks, so I
decided to share my tips with my readers.

On your food blog, is there a favorite recipe of yours? One
that you go to time and time again?

Jenny thank you so much for the interview.
For a chance to win a copy of her cookbook The Picky Palate,
please leave ONE comment telling us one of your "go to"meals for your fussy eaters?PLEASE make sure you have a valid email & name in your signature line or in the comment
field.
Anonymous comments will not be counted.
We'll do the drawing on March 15, 2013.

38 comments:

I have a recipe that uses Pillsbury Crescent rolls for the top and bottom layer in a 9x13 pan and in between those layers is a mixture of hamburger, spaghetti sauce and cheese. No one ever turns their nose at that!

I don't need the book - already have it and love it! Was fortunate enough to see Jenny last week in person and for those who've never met her, she's the sweetest, nicest, most glowing person. Just a total sweetheart! :) And I love her carrot cake and still need to try her yellow butter cake! When I read in her book and now here that she tested it over and over, that means that I HAVE to try it. Wonderful interview, ladies!

wonderful - i just met jenny (briefly) at a party recently. well, more i saw her and stood shyly on the sidelines while everyone devoured her. my go-to for picky eaters would be pizza. who doesn't like pizza?!?

My guys aren't too fussy so I'm very fortunate. But on those occasions when they are, we make homemade pizza so everyone can choose their own toppings. Thanks for the fun & informative interview!Lucy (capelucy@gmail.com)

my husband was a goat in a previous life, he'll eat anything; my boys aren't really picky either, but their friends sure are, so when they sleep-over, my go-to meals are bars. i.e. taco bar or baked potato bar or pizza bar...everyone gets to build their meal with the toppings they like and want; no wasted food anymore :)

When my daughter was young she was a very fussy eater eating only one kind of sandwich and one kind of soup. Unbelievably she would eat spanakopita without fail made with spinach and feta cheese...go figure.

My go to for my picky eaters is a baked potato bar. I put out a variety if cheeses, ham, steamed broccoli, diced tomatoes, caramelized onions, etc. basically I clean out the fridge and offer a large variety of toppings for baked potatoes. My picky eaters always find something they like and will even experiment with toppings. Success!

about vanilla sugar blog

Unique eats, creative recipes, as simple as possible.What drives me to create? Seeing dishes in restaurants, meals created on TV, recipes in cookbooks/online, and I always think to myself why didn’t they add this or why did they leave out that? Love to question, love to research, and love to learn about combining different flavors and textures in recipes.Recipe creations please email: vanillasugarblog@aol.com